Kerryon Johnson has been very good two games in a row, and you'd think the Lions would start expanding his workload. But Matt Patricia, either because he's stubborn or just not interested in giving the media or the competition anything to work with, doesn't seem to be leaning that way.
"I think we have a lot of really good running backs and I think we try to use them appropriately," Patricia said at his Monday news conference. "I think Kerryon played a significant amount of the game. He played 20 snaps of 55, that’s a good amount."
We'll see if Patricia changes his tune, but apparently the three-back committee with Theo Riddick and LeGarrette Blount isn't going away. A shame for Johnson, who could be a fantasy difference-maker, perhaps, with more chances.
Johnson's averaging 5.7 yards per attempt thus far. Among running backs with at least 10 carries, that's 9th in the league.
| YARDS PER CARRY, 2018 (10-PLUS ATTEMPTS) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Team | Att | Yds | Avg | TD |
| Nick Chubb | CLE | 10 | 146 | 14.6 | 2 |
| Matt Breida | SF | 41 | 313 | 7.6 | 1 |
| Austin Ekeler | LAC | 28 | 188 | 6.7 | 0 |
| Aaron Jones | GB | 17 | 107 | 6.3 | 1 |
| C.J. Anderson | CAR | 12 | 75 | 6.3 | 0 |
| Christian McCaffrey | CAR | 46 | 271 | 5.9 | 0 |
| Phillip Lindsay | DEN | 45 | 267 | 5.9 | 1 |
| Ezekiel Elliott | DAL | 73 | 426 | 5.8 | 2 |
| Kerryon Johnson | DET | 38 | 216 | 5.7 | 1 |
| Wendell Smallwood | PHI | 22 | 123 | 5.6 | 1 |
| Chris Thompson | WAS | 15 | 83 | 5.5 | 0 |
| James White | NE | 21 | 110 | 5.2 | 1 |
| Malcolm Brown | LA | 18 | 93 | 5.2 | 0 |
| Melvin Gordon | LAC | 54 | 276 | 5.1 | 2 |
| Tarik Cohen | CHI | 27 | 139 | 5.1 | 0 |
| Royce Freeman | DEN | 44 | 219 | 5.0 | 3 |
| Alvin Kamara | NO | 56 | 275 | 4.9 | 5 |
| Joe Mixon | CIN | 38 | 179 | 4.7 | 1 |
| Saquon Barkley | NYG | 56 | 260 | 4.6 | 3 |
| Giovani Bernard | CIN | 34 | 155 | 4.6 | 3 |
| Ty Montgomery | GB | 16 | 72 | 4.5 | 0 |
| Marshawn Lynch | OAK | 68 | 300 | 4.4 | 3 |
| Todd Gurley | LA | 79 | 338 | 4.3 | 4 |
| Mike Davis | SEA | 24 | 104 | 4.3 | 2 |
| Adrian Peterson | WAS | 56 | 236 | 4.2 | 3 |
| T.J. Yeldon | JAX | 49 | 205 | 4.2 | 1 |
| Bilal Powell | NYJ | 39 | 165 | 4.2 | 0 |
| Jay Ajayi | PHI | 37 | 155 | 4.2 | 3 |
| Ito Smith | ATL | 18 | 75 | 4.2 | 1 |
| Kareem Hunt | KC | 71 | 289 | 4.1 | 3 |
| Isaiah Crowell | NYJ | 42 | 171 | 4.1 | 4 |
| Corey Clement | PHI | 27 | 112 | 4.1 | 1 |
| Marcus Murphy | BUF | 17 | 70 | 4.1 | 0 |
| Sony Michel | NE | 49 | 196 | 4.0 | 1 |
| Frank Gore | MIA | 35 | 139 | 4.0 | 0 |
| Alfred Blue | HOU | 29 | 116 | 4.0 | 1 |
| LeSean McCoy | BUF | 21 | 85 | 4.0 | 0 |
Johnson's not the only one who maybe need a little more work. Aaron Jones might rate a featured role in Green Bay, and Nick Chubb definitely has earned more work in Cleveland.
But for right now, a lot of those players are stuck in committees or backup roles.
--Andy Richardson